| [Nov. 16th, 2016|09:23 pm] |
Ryouma ended up playing errand boy for lunch, while Genma headed to the mission office and Kakashi to the Quartermaster. Their standard kits had been packed and ready since they'd come off medical leave, but Water Country meant saltwater and jungle, razor cliffs and impenetrable mist.
And blood-maddened, shark-toothed shinobi, but Ryouma doubted the QM had any special gear for them.
He picked up three packed lunch trays, two green teas, and one coffee, and threaded his way down through the maze of unmarked hallways to Team Six's office. The door was closed, but not locked.
Hell, not Kuroda—
Dammit, he was getting jumpy. It was probably just Genma, already back from the mission office with a full file and a new quiver of disappointed glances. Food should appease him.
Ryouma opened the door. "Lieutenant—"
The lieutenant wasn't there. Raidou, armed and armored and stooped over a spread of maps on his old desk, was.
Plastic crumpled in Ryouma's hand. "Taichou," he breathed. "You're back?"
Raidou glanced up over his shoulder, and grinned. "What took you so long? I've been here for an hour already."
"Kuroda didn't tell us you were here." Ryouma stepped into the room and set the trays down on the nearest desk. His hands still weren't quite steady. He shoved them into his pockets, before he could do anything stupid like going for a hug. "You leading this mission?"
Raidou straightened, dropped his pen down on the map he'd been marking, and clapped Ryouma reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'll explain when the others get here. They on their way?"
"Kakashi should be here any minute. Lieutenant went to the mission office for the brief." The brief that probably looked something very like the papers spread out across Raidou's desk. Genma was going to be pissed if he got to the mission office and found Kuroda'd sent him on a wild goose chase.
Pissed enough, perhaps, to be muttering as he stepped through the open door on Ryouma's heels. "—if I ever get a chance to see that smug bastard in the— Taichou?"
Raidou's grin widened. "Fukuchou."
It was only a few days since they'd seen him, casual in civvies at the Akimichi barbecue. More than a month, though, since they'd seen him in uniform, well-rested and clear-eyed, with a gleaming Crescent Moon mask clipped to his belt. Even through the glove, his hand on Ryouma's shoulder had been warm.
"So the Quartermaster says the new cloaks are fireproof and waterproof, but not to test them at the same time," Kakashi announced from the door. "And also that he's done giving us new masks— "
He stopped, too, just shy of running into Genma. Genma stepped automatically to the side. Kakashi swept a sharp look over the three of them, blinked, and said with audible relief, "Taichou. Is Kuroda dead?"
"Who's getting stuck on grudges now?" Ryouma demanded.
Kakashi's brow ticked down. He dumped his armload of folded cloaks on the nearest desk. "Who's getting grudges about grudges?"
Raidou smiled at them both. "I've missed this so much," he said fondly. "Kuroda isn't dead. Both of you shut up and let the lieutenant get a word in."
Genma snorted softly. He crossed the little office, stopping beside Raidou's desk with its scatter of maps and files. "I'm guessing that's the briefing material for the mission." He looked up, and a smile bloomed across his face. "It's good to have our real captain back, Namiashi-taichou."
"Back for good?" Ryouma pressed.
"Yes," Raidou said. Ryouma fist-pumped; Genma's eyes lit. Raidou said swiftly, "Conditional on my performance on this mission. So let's brief." |
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